Refrigerator



Dec. 5, 1939.

Filed April 11, 1938 H. H. ROARK REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

H- EDHRK Dec. 5, 1939. H ROARK 2,182,3

REFRIGERATOR Filed April 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENT OR.

H. HRUHE K I l' I ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 5,. 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR Henry H.Roark, Sac City, Iowa Application April 11, 1938, Serial No. 201,343

1 Claim.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a refrigeratorconstruction that is handy and durable in use, economical in manufactureand refined in appearance.

More specifically the object of this invention is to provide acylindrical refrigerator having holding and supporting trays that arerotatable and that are vertically adjustable.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction arrangement and combination ofthe various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claimand illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of my refrigerator with sections cut away to morefully illustrate its construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of one of the rotatable trays.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view of a portion of one of thetrays and its associate mechanisms.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side sectional view of the means for adjustablyand rotatably supporting a tray. 1

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the vertical adjustable bearingelement.

Fig 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the release mechanism takenon line 6--6 of Fig. 4.

Although refrigerators are universally used, they are not handy in use.The reason for this is that they are generally of rectangularconstruction and when the door is opened the supporting shelves or traysare positioned wholly inside the storage compartment. Also it is mostdiilicult to obtain articles that are located on the shelves at theextreme inside back of the storage compartment. I have overcome suchobjections as will hereinafter be appreciated.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral ill to designate thehousing of my refrigerator. This housing may be of any suitable materialand construction. If desired this housthreaded one as shown in Fig. 4.Threaded onto this shaft I2 is a plurality of bearing elements l3.

In the drawings I show two of these bearing elements, but any number maybe used according to the number of supporting trays desired. Obviouslyby rotating these bearing elements l3 to the right or left, they will beaccordingly lowered or raised in their relative positions on the shaftsl2. The numeral l4 designates a vertical longitudinal groove at the sideof the shaft post I2. 10 The numeral I 5 designates a lug integrallyformed on the side of each of the bearing elements 13. The numeral i6designates a well extending into each of the portions l5 and I3 as shownin Fig. 4. The numeral i I designates a rod slid- 15 ably mountedextending through each of the bearing elements i3, and one of the wellsl6. Embracing each of these shafts I! is a cup l8 threaded onto theouter end of the projection l5 through which the rod l7 rotatably andslidably 20 operates. The numeral I 9 designates projections on each ofthe cup cap members l8 and extending into a well IS. The numeral 20desighates a washer rigidly secured on each of the rods l1 and insidethe well in which the rod 25 operates. The numeral 2| designates a coilspring embracing each of the rods I! having its forward end engaging thewasher 20 and its rear end engaging the projection l9 as shown in Fig.4. By this construction the coil spring 39 will yieldingly hold theforward end of the rod l1 and the channel groove H of the shaft l2.Obviously when the rod I! of the bearing member l3 so engages thechannel groove H, the bearing member I3 will be prevented from rela- 5tive rotation on the shaft i2. The numeral 22 designates a bayonet slotin the outer end of each of the lug projections l5. Each of thesebayonet slots extends first rearwardly and then downwardly as shown inFig. 3 and communicates with w the rod I! by virtue of a cut awayportion on the projection 19. After the rod l1 and cap I 8 have beenassembled a pin 23 is inserted in the bayonet slot and driven into areceiving hole in the rod I! as shown in Fig. 4. The numeral 45 24designates a knurled kfnob handle rigidly secured on the outer end ofeach of the rods l1. Obviously when it is desired to rotate a bearingmember I 3 for a vertical adjustment purpose, the knob 24 is pulledoutwardly and rotated to bring the pin 23 into the lowered position ofthe bayonet slot 22. This section brings the forward end of the rod I!out of engagement with the groove in the shaft l2 and holds the rod I!in such inoperative position. With the rod 50 not threaded on the shaftin this position, the bearingmember- I! may be rotated to the left or tothe right tochange its vertical position on the shaft It. When thebearing member i3 reaches the desired location,

5 the knob 24 is rotated to the right to bring the pin 23 out ofengagement with the vertical portion of the bayonet slot 22 and into the-horizontal slot portion of the bayonet slot. When the pin 23 is in sucha position the coil spring 2| by exerting pressure on the washer willmove the rod i'i forwardly to engage the channel groove H. The channelgroove i4 is positioned on the forward side of the shaft I! as shown inFig. 1 in order that the knurled knobs 1e 24 may be directly in front ofthe user when the refrigerator door is opened. The numeral 25 designatesa bearing sleeve rotatably and slidably mounted on the shaft I2 andabove each of the bearing elements it. These sleeves 25 are ii. Thenumeral 26 designates a circular tray plate or shelf rigidly secured toeach of the sleeve bearings 25. The numeral 21 designates an upwardlyextending flange on the periphery of each of the members 25 26.Obviously as each of the members 25 rotatabiy rests on the top of thebearing member ii, the tray plates 26 may be easily manually rotated onthe shafts i2. Their height position within the refrigerator housing maybe lowered or raised so by adjusting the positions of the members i3 asherebefore explained. To facilitate the manual rotation of the shelves26, the ball race 28 may be placed between each of the bearing members03 and collars 25 as shown in Fig. 4.

35 From the foregoing it will readily be seen that I have provided arefrigerator construction that is very handy in use. When it is desired.to

obtain some object in the inside rear of the refrigerator. it is merelynecessary to rotate the shelf or tray 26 to bring the desired object tothe front portion of the refrigerator. By making the housing of therefrigerator cylindrical, it will be noted that when the door is openedthe circular shelf tray 2' will extend outwardly and beyond the plane ofthe opening of the refrigerator.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of myimproved refrigerator without departing from the real spirit and purposeof my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims anymodified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which maybe reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

In a device of the class described, a housing. a vertical threaded shaftinside said housing, a bearing member threaded on said shaft, alongitudinal groove in said threaded shaft, a rod slidably mounted insaid bearing member capable of engaging said channel groove at times, ameans for yieldingly holding said rod towards said shaft for preventingthe rotation of said bearing element relative to said threaded shaft attimes, a projection on said bearing element surrounding said rod andhaving a bayonet slot cut therein, a pin on said rod capable of engagingsaid bayonet slot in said projection when said rod is manually pulledrearwardly out of engagement with said groove in said threaded shaft,and a supporting tray element rotatabiy mounted on said shaft andoperatively supported by said bearing member.

